


Hopefully

by MysticalAuthoress



Series: Trials of the Wild [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Yakitate!! Japan
Genre: Alive Champions (Legend of Zelda), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Dimension Travel, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kind-of, Post-Breath of the Wild, Post-Calamity Ganon, the champions got resurrected, travelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28581981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticalAuthoress/pseuds/MysticalAuthoress
Summary: After Monica Adenauer and Ryou Kuroyanagi end up in Zora’s Domain with no recollection of how they got here, or where their friends are, both of them need all the help they can get. Thankfully, a certain Zora Champion just might be able to help with that.
Relationships: King Dorephan & Mipha, Mipha & Prince Sidon, Monica Adenauer/Suwabara Kai (mentioned)
Series: Trials of the Wild [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094270
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Hopefully

**Author's Note:**

> Author note: I don’t own The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, nor do I own Yakitate!! Japan. 
> 
> This is the first oneshot in a crossover series between The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Yakitate!! Japan. This is also a bit of an AU where all the Champions got resurrected after Link defeated Ganon in Breath of the Wild, as well, and so there will be major spoilers for Breath of the Wild. There will also be spoilers for Yakitate!! Japan as well. 
> 
> It's my first time writing Mipha and Sidon (as it will be for many of the Breath of the Wild characters in this crossover series), but I apologize if they come off as out of character at least a little bit in this. I hope to improve on this in future fics. As of posting this oneshot, I have 3-4 more oneshots that will eventually be posted in this series, during the next few weeks. I hope that all of you enjoy reading this oneshot and many more!
> 
> Warning: Major spoilers for both Breath of the Wild and Yakitate!! Japan, mentioned canonical character death, AU where the Champions are resurrected post-Ganon’s defeat, takes place post-Breath of the Wild

Mipha took a deep breath as she stood at one of the higher floors, watching the rest of Zora's Domain from above. It was a curious event, coming back to life after Ganon's defeat. She hadn't expected to live again, or reunite with her brother Sidon (who was much taller now than a hundred years ago) or her father, King Dorephan. Both of her family were overjoyed to be with her again, but with that resurrection came adjustments.

Since she was previously dead and stuck within Vah Ruta, she didn't get the chance to see Zora's Domain really change over time. And it _definitely_ changed since she last stepped foot in the Domain, from infrastructure renovations to the fellow Zora aging, and even new Zora children. It delighted Mipha to get to talk with the children, and they, in turn, were happy to speak with the fabled and adored Zora Champion herself. The elders seemed happy to see Mipha back, too, for various reasons.

Other than the adjustmenets, however, there was something amiss: Recently, a human named Ryou Kuroyanagi suddenly appeared at the entrance to Zora's Domain. He was exhausted from running from Lizalfos and Chuchus; remnants of Calamity Ganon's forces. The Zoras took pity on him and let him stay with them for now, in exchange for helping them out with errands and small favors.

Also, this man came from a place called…Japan? Mipha was unfamiliar with this location. She assumed it must be a place outside of Hyrule, but she didn't know where exactly it was.

Also, this man didn't come alone. Accompanying him was a red-haired woman named Monica Adenauer. She, like Kuroyanagi, didn't have any place to stay, and also consequently stayed in Zora's Domain in exchange for helping out with errands and so on. Unlike him, however, she first asked urgently about her lover, Kai Suwabara, as well as her other friends (an Azuma? Kawachi? Shachioko? Mipha did her best to remember all the names). Mipha knew that Monica and Kuroyanagi needed assistance in finding their friends and allies, and so, after consulting with her brother Sidon and father Dorephan, she swiftly sent a few Zora scouts down the rivers to search for these people.

It was now a few days since the scouting occurred. _They should be back soon,_ Mipha mused. _If it's taking such a long time, perhaps the scouts went further downriver…_

"Lady Mipha!"

Mipha turned to see one of the Zora Guards approach her. "Yes?" She asked. "Is there something the matter?"

The guard caught his breath, before promptly reporting, "One of our guests ate all the fish in Marot Mart. Again."

Mipha has a feeling _who_ did this. Probably Kuroyanagi. The man does have a huge heart _and_ appetite when it comes to food, after all. She offers her fellow Zora a soft smile to reassure him.

"I will go speak to him about this issue. Thank you, for bringing this up to me." She manages. Hopefully she can persuade Kuroyanagi to try _not_ to buy all the fish for himself again, even if he keeps earning enough Rupees to outbuy everyone visiting. She pauses, thinking of the scouts, then asks, "In the meantime, have you heard from the scouts if they met anyone that knows him, or his companion?"

"Yes." The guard replies. "Our scouts saw a couple Hylians along the rivers outside the Domain, but none of them know a Ryou Kuroyanagi or a Monica Adenauer."

This didn't sound good. If that was the case, their friends must be far beyond Zora's Domain. Potentially as far as the Gerudo Desert, or maybe even the Hebra Mountains for all she knew. "I'll need to speak with both of them about this, then…."

"Sister?" She turned to see her sweet brother Sidon (he was _much_ taller than her now, one-hundred years later) approaching. The usually optimistic prince looked mildly concerned, given the lack of a smile. "Is something the matter?"

"It's about our guests' friends. They haven't been found in the outskirts of the Domain, so it's possible they could be elsewhere." Mipha admitted. "I was hoping to speak with Kuroyanagi and Monica about this so we can discuss further plans to find their friends. And I think it's also best that we discuss this with Father, as well."

"I think I saw Monica by the pools just a floor or two below us." Sidon noted, with a soft hum. "I can go get her."

"I'll find Kuroyanagi, then. We'll meet in the throne room." Mipha smiled up at him. "Thank you, brother."

And with that, Mipha went to find Ryou Kuroyanagi, wondering if he was in the middle of eating all the fish right now. _If that's the case, he's probably cooking…or eating everything he already cooked…_

* * *

Monica Adenauer isn't known for her massive appetite, but Ryou Kuroyanagi certainly is. At least he's been _trying_ to curb his appetite while here in Zora's Domain out of courtesy for everyone else…even if there is little success in that. It's not the first time he's done this, and at this point, he knew it would be far from the last.

How could he stop himself from trying out all the fish? They were _so delicious_ once they were properly grilled or fried in one of the available pans for public use. And he was hungry, too, from all the other errands he ran earlier. Hey, it wasn't _his_ fault that the Zoras paid him enough Rupees to buy all that fish in one go!

He'd just finished eating the last of the fish for today as he recalled the first days of being here. He woke up at the entrance of Zora's Domain, with Monica Adenauer of all people beside him, before the two got chased by those monsters. Kai Suwabara, Kawachi Kyosuke, and all their other coworkers were nowhere to be found so far.

And then on top of that, everyone that lived in Zora's Domain were all fish people. Or, at least, fish-shaped people. Muzu looked like a stingray, while Dorephan resembled a whale to Kuroyanagi. Sidon and Mipha were more sharklike, though, despite being Dorephan's children. Perhaps their mother was one of those shark-like Zora, in contrast to Dorephan's whale-like form.

He wasn't sure how he got here. He initially thought he had a weird reaction to eating someone's bread. Weird things have happened with him and bread before. Either he had a reaction, or he was hallucinating. He soon realized that he didn't even _remember_ if he had some sort of reaction prior to waking up here, nor did he even remember _what_ he did before ending up here.

If it wasn't him that had the reaction to eating bread that landed him here, then who ate the bread? And what _kind_ of bread was it, sending them to a world like this?

No matter how odd it was, he betted that bread was delicious. At least, he hoped it was at the time.

After he and Monica understood their collective surroundings, they quickly also realized how unequipped they were to just walk out of Zora's Domain and find their friends thanks to the Lizalfos chasing them and all. Going on a sudden journey was impossible to immediately attend to, due to the remnants of Calamity Ganon's forces wandering all of Hyrule despite Ganon himself being defeated. They then decided on two things with this in mind:

They had to go outside of Zora's Domain to find their friends at some point, and soon.

If they were going to go outside Zora's Domain and not die on the first night, they probably should prepare.

Some of the Zora guards offered to help them learn some basic defense and attack tactics, inbetween doing errands. Monica figured out combat well enough, drawing from her past experience pretending to be a ninja along with Kai during the time they went up against Azuma in a competition, but Kuroyanagi himself found that physically attacking people…wasn't his expertise.

Give him a shield and he could defend himself okay. But _actually_ attacking people with a sword wasn't his strong suit compared to Monica. He found that he wielded a trident slightly better out of all the weapons he could practice with, and so he ended up borrowing one of the spare tridents they had in stock for training. In the meantime, all that training made him _hungry,_ so he naturally frequented Marot Mart, bartering with the people there to get the fish he wanted…which was often all of the fish they had in stock at the time.

That…didn't make him too popular with some of the Zora, particularly the elders. At least he did his best to pay for all of it, given all the scavenging he did for gems and other things to sell, as well as the various tasks and favours he did for other Zora to get paid. Sometimes he'd wander just outside of Zora's Domain to try to grab a couple things. Even if the Lizalfos chased him, he could at least run back into the Domain and let the guards handle it. Right?

"Kuroyanagi?"

Mipha's soft voice drew him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see Mipha approaching him.

"Mipha–!" He quickly swallowed the last mouthful of fish in his mouth, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Sorry, I didn't notice you until now. Is something the matter?"

"I just heard back from one of the guards about the scouts we sent." Mipha managed. "I asked Sidon to find Monica so we can all meet in the throne room to discuss this further with both of you." The way she spoke reminded him faintly of his ex-girlfriend, Cathy, even if she looked nothing like her. He knew better though, that he should focus on the current situation and not the past.

Kuroyanagi supposed it made sense. He looked down at the mess of fish bones from all of what he consumed, and then up at her. "I'll clean up here before I make my way there, then." He managed.

"Thank you." She smiled, and he noticed her smile vanish quickly afterwards.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, while cleaning up, discarding fish bones in the appropriate areas and so on. "You seem concerned about something." Could it be what the Zora scouts reported to her, about his coworkers and friends? Had any of them been found? Were they okay?

"Well…" She paused, then shook her head. "I'll tell you once we're all together."

Kuroyanagi felt, in his gut, that things were about to go south with whatever this news was.

* * *

Monica wasn't sure what to do. She had no clue how she got here, even. And as far as Kuroyanagi remembered, it wasn't because he ate an experimental bread or something. Monica knew it couldn't be her fault, either, because _she_ didn't have extreme reactions to eating bread like some of her friends and coworkers did at Pantasia.

So…who else had an extreme bread reaction, then? Maybe Kawachi? Matsushiro? Kai? Who knows? Surely there had to be some reason for this happening. And though extreme bread reactions sounded impossible, she knew, from witnessing many reactions, that it was too possible.

She doubted it was Kai who had a reaction, though. Kai didn't have extreme reactions, but he could have minor reactions as far as she knew. She couldn't remember if he was with her at the time, before she woke up in Zora's Domain along with Kuroyanagi. But either way, Kai wasn't here with her now, and she was determined to get back to him or find him, wherever he was. Same with all of her other coworkers and friends, too.

She watched some of the Zora children splashing around in the various little pools, chattering with each other. They'd been curious about her long, reddish-orange hair, still tied in the two long ponytails that she always wore. The Zora children were kind, even if they were very curious, and Monica saw a bit of herself in them with how enthusiastic they were with learning more. The elders, Monica didn't get along with as much, but then again, the Zoras had previous issues with distrusting Hylians (who seemed like humans, but with pointy ears, as far as Monica could tell?), so that might have something to do with it. It was only recently that, thanks to Link defeating Ganon and appeasing Vah Ruta with Sidon's help, that they started being more open to Hylians again.

She thought of herself and Kuroyanagi. At least they were in a safe place, she reasoned, and after a huge enemy like Ganon was already defeated. She counted her blessings, but she couldn't help but think of her other friends and of Kai. Where were they? Would they be okay, where they were? Were they also _safe?_

"Monica, my excellent friend!" She turned to see none other than Prince Sidon of the Zora approach her. He was a lot taller than her, but she managed to make eye contact with him as he beamed at her. There was always something about him that seemed so optimistic. "I thought I spotted you earlier, by here. How are you faring?"

"Prince Sidon." She offered him a soft grin. "I'm fine. I've just been thinking, that's all. What about you?"

"Oh, I've been fine, but thank you." He paused, before continuing. "My sister Mipha wanted to speak with you. It's about the scouts we sent out during the past few days. She also went to go find Kuroyanagi, so I figured I should find you for her."

Ah, right. The scouts. Monica remembered her and Kuroyanagi explaining to Mipha, Sidon and their father, Dorephan, about the situation. They were quick to send out some Zora scouts along the rivers to try to search for their friends, after giving various descriptions of each of their coworkers, and they promised to do the best they could. If they were lucky, maybe they weren't far from Zora's Domain, and they could be brought back here.

Hopefully the scouts came back with good news. "I'd be happy to go speak with her."

He flashed her a signature smile of his, gleaming in the light of the Domain. "Excellent! Let us go to her together, then."

As they walked together to the upper floors, after Monica waved goodbye to the Zora children for now, Monica could see how Sidon was popular among his kind. Not only was he the son of King Dorephan and brother to Mipha, but he was kind, charismatic, and incredibly optimistic most of the time. A lot of people, Zora and beyond, found him endearing as is. It also helped that he previously assisted Link, the one who sealed away Calamity Ganon, in getting him onboard Vah Ruta to cleanse it of Ganon's Waterblight.

However, she also knew that Sidon wasn't just all smiles. He could be serious when he wanted to. Hell, he'd even searched for Link himself for help, back when Vah Ruta nearly flooded the Domain. The fact that he aided the Hero, who was a Hylian that the elders previously detested at the time, showed a mark of his seriousness when things had to be taken seriously.

She just hoped that this news wasn't serious in terms of bad news. If it was good news, however…that was a different case.

* * *

By the time Sidon and Monica got upstairs and into the throne room, Mipha was already with Kuroyanagi. Also in the throne was, of course, none other than King Dorephan, a large (and seriously large, compared to the rest of the Zora), imposing shark-like ruler of the Zora. All three of them turned to face Sidon and Monica as they entered. Monica awkwardly bowed, unsure of how else to properly

"I see that everyone is here." Mipha took a deep breath, before looking towards Monica and Kuroyanagi. "Sidon and I just heard back from the scouts we sent. None of them have found your friends, nor anyone that's met them. I suspect that they could be beyond the outskirts of the Domain."

"When you mean beyond the outskirts, Princess…" Kuroyanagi paused, brows furrowing, "Do you mean they could be entirely elsewhere in Hyrule?"

"Yes." Mipha nodded. "For all we know, they could be as far as the Gerudo Desert, or even the Hebra Mountains. Either way, they're nowhere close to Zora's Domain."

Monica felt her heart sink. "So, they really are far from here?" Was Kai okay out there? Who knows where he even was? She hadn't gone far out of Zora's Domain; just far enough to maybe scavenge a couple things as favours for other Zora or to sell for Rupees. "What do we do now?"

"Well," Mipha looked towards her, "I do think that we should try to find your friends. But since we have no idea of where they are…I was thinking that we should take you to Hyrule Castle and seek help from Princess Zelda."

"Princess Zelda?" Kuroyanagi's eyes widened. "You mean, the Princess of all of Hyrule?"

"Yes." She nodded. "I'm certain these must be some way she might able to help you both find your friends, at least, even if we still don't know how to get you back home."

 _Home._ Monica couldn't help but think of home. Her home was, right now, at that old dojo with Kai. What if he wasn't here in Hyrule at all, but back home, wondering where she was? Would he be okay?

"Monica?" She looked up at Kuroyanagi, whose gaze softened as his eyes met hers. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just worried for our friends, that's all." She managed. She didn't really want to talk about it too much.

"Since it would be better to have you reunited with your friends as soon as possible, and given that both of you would be vulnerable to Ganon's lingering forces," Mipha finished, before looking up at her father, Dorephan, _"I_ will accompany them outside Zora's Domain, Father, and take them straight to Hyrule Castle for further assistance."

* * *

" _What?"_ Dorephan's eyes widened, and Kuroyanagi knew that couldn't be a good sign. "Mipha. I know you mean well, but you have only just recently returned after being trapped in Vah Ruta for so long. We do not wish to lose you again so soon."

"I know, Father." Mipha's smile was faint, but her eyes were determined. "However, I do think it will be of benefit to all of us. I meant to go speak with Princess Zelda at Hyrule Castle about a few other things concerning the Domain and Hyrule Castle in the upcoming days ahead as is. If I accompany our guests there and explain the situation to her while I'm at it, perhaps she can also aid them in reuniting with their friends elsewhere in Hyrule. Besides," Mipha inhaled deeply, before continuing, "I believe they are good people. Their company is not unwanted. And it's about time I went outside the Domain and see, firsthand, how this world has changed since a hundred years ago."

Well. Kuroyanagi exchanged awkward glances with Monica, who shrugged. The elders didn't like them so much, but the rest of the Zora had been fairly nice to them. And Mipha was nice, as well as Sidon (even if Sidon was almost irritatingly positive, in Kuroyanagi's opinion). Travelling along with Mipha would be handy.

King Dorephan hummed softly, and he paused, eyeing both Monica and Kuroyanagi. "I will permit it…on one condition. While you are both travelling with my daughter, I expect that you both aid her as much as she aids you. Should I hear word of either of you abandoning her to a gruesome fate or likewise, there will be grave consequences. Is that clear?"

Kuroyanagi swallowed. Death threats were not fun. But then again, he understood why Dorephan would be so protective of Mipha – she _did_ actually die for a hundred years, after all. And she was his daughter, too. They were family. Kuroyanagi knew that if anyone tried killing his own coworkers, he'd probably be just as pissed.

"I understand." He finally managed, bowing. "Thank you for all of the help you've given us, so far."

"Okay." Monica looked mildly uncomfortable at the potential death threat, and even Sidon seemed mildly unhappy, frowning lightly.

"Father, these two have done nothing but offer their kindness and skills to assist here…" Sidon started, but then paused, as if to leave out saying something like _other than Kuroyanagi eating all the fish sometimes_ , before continuing. "I'm sure they'll cause no trouble. I believe them to be good as well. Besides, I've observed them in their training, and they are both capable of protecting themselves at this point."

"Very well." Dorephan looked towards Kuroyanagi, Monica and Mipha. "How soon do you plan to go?"

All three of them looked between each other, before Monica blurted out, "The day after tomorrow? We'll need some time to prepare for the journey ahead, after all."

"Very well." Dorephan noted. "The day after tomorrow, then."

"What!?" Kuroyanagi's eyes widened at that. "We only have less than two days?" Sure, it would be great to find their friends and coworkers. But less than two days from now? Kuroyanagi doubted that Marot Mart would be able to restock fish that fast to pack as rations, no thanks to him buying out all the fish in stock for today. And he wasn't exactly the best at fighting, either. Even with Mipha and Monica being great fighters themselves (even if Mipha was mainly a healer, she still was better at combat than Kuroyanagi was), that didn't mean that it was necessarily safer to be out there, even with Calamity Ganon already defeated.

"The sooner we find our friends, the better." Monica shrugged, looking towards him. "And we'll definitely need time to prepare. That's why I asked for less than two days from now."

"You have a point." A sigh left Kuroyanagi. "I'll try not to get too occupied at Marot Mart, then…"

"Speaking of Marot Mart," Mipha looked up at Kuroyanagi, "I heard that you bought out all the fish again."

"It looked and tasted delicious." Kuroyanagi emphasized. "However, I apologize. Again."

"It's quite alright." Mipha chuckled a little. "I'm glad to see you have such enthusiasm for the cuisine here. I can almost imagine you eating your way across all of Hyrule."

Kuroyanagi decided it was best not to tell her that he probably would eat his way across all of Hyrule if he could (and that it was _very_ possible that he would). "Food is passion of mine," He admitted. "I've judged competitions before."

"Really? What was it like?"

Cue Kuroyanagi giving Mipha a few examples, drawing from the Pantasia Newcomers' Tournament (before quickly regretting mentioning that he almost kissed Meister Kirisaki twice, during two separate times). A lot of them were embarrassing, looking back on it, but he was more than used to it by now.

Mipha stared at him in silence, before she asked, a bit concerned, "Do you react like that to almost _everything_ you eat and critique?"

Kuroyanagi could only laugh. "I have a lot more stories involving reactions. I can tell you more, if you'd like."

* * *

The next morning came, and Monica wanted to be ready for the journey coming the next day. She'd challenged Sidon and Mipha to both fight her, and she also dragged Kuroyanagi into the whole sparring session. Usually, she was fine with fighting. She'd only beaten Kai in a spar a few times, but that was because she blew him a few kisses or flirted with him and he got distracted enough that she could tackle him down and disarm him. However, it didn't take away from the fact that she knew how to fight.

So why couldn't she focus? She was quick to be disarmed, with even Kuroyanagi managing to knock the spear out of her hands once. Eventually she called it quits, asking for a break as she sat by one of the small pools nearby, trying to grab a few little crabs running around (those things spawned _everywhere_ in Zora's Domain) for the upcoming trip.

"Monica?" Kuroyanagi looked at her with worried eyes. "Are you…?"

"Just tired." She muttered. She knew that was a lie. "I'll be ready again in a couple minutes, okay?"

"Actually," Kuroyanagi cleared his throat awkwardly, "I think I'll take a break, too. How about we resume in an hour?"

"Okay."

Kuroyanagi walked off, and Monica closed her eyes, forcing herself to take a deep, slow breath through her nose, before exhaling through her mouth in a long puff. She knew that she shouldn't be so distracted, but…it was hard. The Zora were hospitable, but it didn't take away from the fact that she didn't really know a lot of people here. And she and Kuroyanagi only really knew each other through Pantasia and weren't exactly best friends, either (it didn't help that Kai and Kuroyanagi sometimes didn't see eye-to-eye as is anyway).

She wanted to be strong going into this journey. She was sure Kai was trying to do the same, as well as any of her other coworkers and friends that were in Hyrule. But would it hold up?

"Monica?" Mipha approached her, and Monica looked up at her as she sat down beside her. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk?"

Sidon and Kuroyanagi were already talking in low voices a distance away from the two, and Monica was relieved at that. She didn't want to just blab out all her worries in front of them, anyway. (She feared that with given how optimistic Sidon could be, she'd give him a heart attack if she just vented on him of all people, so better Mipha than Sidon right now.)

"I guess I'm just worried about my friends. And Kai." A sigh left her. "They're the closest people I have to family, Mipha. I really don't want to lose them."

"I can sympathize." A soft sigh left the Zora Champion. "I know it's dangerous out there."

"It's just…we don't know where they are. If they're here, that is. I know Kuroyanagi and I are lucky to end up here as is, but what about the others? I don't…" She still could recall the day Kai ran off to that river after it was clear that Azuma had him and Monica beat in the bread competition, and she grimaced. What if she found her friends or even her boyfriend stabbed in the stomach by a riverbank? "I don't want them to _die."_

Mipha paused, taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes, likely processing all that Monica just vented out to her, but as she spoke, her voice stayed soft but trembled lightly.

"When I died," She confessed, "A hundred years ago, I thought that it would be the end of Zora's Domain. My spirit was stuck on Vah Ruta, so I could do nothing but somewhat watch over the Domain. I saw the monsters approaching, but my people, including my father and my brother, fought bravely. I know that everyone was in a lot of pain after they lost me, and even though I've returned and am now resurrected thanks to Link defeating Calamity Ganon, there are still those bitter about my death in the first place."

Mipha's gaze drifted into something of sadness, and Monica tried to imagine Mipha, stuck in Vah Ruta thanks to Ganon's doing, knowing she was helpless to do nothing but watch Ganon wreak havoc across Hyrule for a hundred years. She then thought of herself, and how she watched her entire family fall apart after they moved to America, after her father overworked himself to sickness, and then her mother fell to grief. Monica hadn't thought of it until now, but…maybe she and Mipha were alike in more ways than one. They both had their family and allies to be concerned about, as well as the places they belonged to being in danger (not that Pantasia was in danger of being literally destroyed like Hyrule was, but still).

She heard Mipha take a deep breath, and she looked up at the Zora as she continued speaking. "But I know this, from what I've seen all these years: You can't lose hope now. No matter what happens out there, whether we lose a loved one, we have to keep fighting and hope for the best in the end." She wrapped her arms around herself briefly, exhaling lightly. "I know it's painful, being separated from your loved ones. And I don't want anyone in the Domain or all of Hyrule to be killed by Calamity Ganon's forces, let alone your friends. But if we lose hope and think of nothing but the worst outcomes, that's when truly lose the battle."

Monica let all of that sink in for a moment. Mipha did have a point. Losing hope right now wouldn't do anyone any good. "Hey, Mipha?"

"Yes?" She looked up at her, eyes wide, and Monica offered her a soft smile.

"Thanks. For all of that. I really appreciate it."

"You are most welcome, Monica."

Both of them sat in relative silence, listening to the Zora children playing in the pool waters and the rest of Zora's Domain, before Monica decided that it was best to train a bit more. After all, she had to be prepared as well as she could before going out to find her coworkers and friends, and there was only so much time she had before tomorrow.

* * *

The next day was the day that Monica, Kuroyanagi and Mipha would start their journey to Hyrule Castle. According to Mipha, the trip to Hyrule wouldn't take too long by foot; maybe three or four days, depending on the weather. It would be easier to get there by horseback, but no one had any horses. Mipha could probably swim most of the way there herself in less time than walking, though. However, neither Kuroyanagi nor Monica could swim that fast and they didn't have any Zora Armor to help, so swimming there wasn't an option. Going by foot was the best they could do, as a result. There were apparently main paths that they could follow by foot, which would make the journey a little easier, but it would still take some time.

For some reason, Kuroyanagi ahd a feeling that fighting monsters on the way was the least of their problems. Food might be a harder issue. He knew how to cook with the pots apparently commonly found in Hyrule, so if they came to a stable with foraged ingredients in hand, they could make something fast. But camping out in the wild would be a little more complicated. The plan was to hopefully make it to a stable on the way to Hyrule Castle every night, so they could at least sleep easy and/or restock from travelling merchants as necessary. It seemed solid enough.

Hopefully they'd find their coworkers and friends on the way, too. Or maybe they were at Hyrule Castle already. Who knows?

"Are you certain that you don't want to come along with us, Sidon?" Kuroyanagi overheard Mipha asking her brother. The Prince of the Zora came to see the three off on their journey. "I'm sure Link would be happy to see you." Kuroyanagi remembered hearing word of how Sidon and Link generally got along, during the past couple times Link visited Zora's Domain. After all, it had been Sidon who trusted Link to help with the whole Vah Ruta problem a while back, and he fully supported Link the task despite the elders' objections at the time.

Prince Sidon shook his head, sighing softly. "I too miss our most excellent friend, sister, but I also have my duties here in the Domain. Besides," Sidon then smiled, albeit somewhat sheepishly, "I worry that the elders, especially Muzu, might object more if _both_ of us suddenly left with our guests on short notice. Besides, the Princess has an upcoming ball in about one and a half weeks from now, and Father and I will be in attendance. I'll have the opportunity to go out again then."

"I see. Well, I hope that I won't be gone long. The journey should only take a couple of days." Mipha managed.

"I hope so." Kuroyanagi muttered. He tried to imagine who would be out there. Meister, perhaps? At least the General Manager of Pantasia had a good enough head on his shoulders to stay safe and ask for help. But what if someone like Kawachi was out there, or Azuma? They'd be flailing around trying to survive. He could already imagine them being chased by the beasts of the forest, screaming in terror.

Hopefully they weren't caught in such a mess, but…well, Kuroyanagi also wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. It seemed very like them to run into trouble like that, honestly.

"I'm sure you'll find your friends." Sidon smiled, pumping a fist along with it, and in that instant, the Zora reminded Kuroyanagi of Kidd and his constant thumbs up. "I believe in you!"

"Thanks, Sidon!" Monica smiled, before looking towards Kuroyanagi. "You ready to go?"

Kuroyanagi nodded as he looked towards Mipha and Monica. "I'm ready." He managed.

As the trio left on their way to Hyrule Castle, Kuroyanagi wondered what sort of places lingered outside Zora's Domain. It would be a big opportunity to try all the cuisine he could and maybe meet some cooks that specialized in the fare they had to offer, while he travelled. He looked forward to seeing his coworkers and friends, but he also hoped to experience the world around him, while he was still in it.

After all, with an odd opportunity being stuck in a world like this, who wouldn't take their time to explore what it had to offer?


End file.
